Court of Appeal ruling – Corriere.it

From our correspondent
NEW YORK – Donald Trump has no criminal immunity for his attempts to overturn the vote in 2020. It culminated in the attack on the Capitol: This was proven by the ruling of three judges of the Washington Court of Appeals. This means that for the court Federal trial in Washington Trump will be able to move forward, even if the March 4 start date is postponed and Trump will still be able to appeal to the Supreme Court (as well as the ruling of the entire appeals court instead of just three justices).

The unanimous ruling from the three judges arrived yesterday and was expected. Karen Henderson (appointed by George H.W. Bush), Florence Pan and Michelle Childs (appointed by Biden) I listened skepticallyLast January, the appeal was filed by Trump's lawyers, who claimed to be a former president Criminal immunity. Yesterday, they announced that despite the privileges he enjoyed as president, Trump is today subject to the sanctions law like any other American. “For purposes of this case, former President Trump has become a Trump citizen. Any presidential immunity that may have protected him while he was in office no longer protects him.”

Trump had She appealed to the Court of Appeal After Judge Tanya Chutkan – the same one to whom the trial against him was assigned in Washington – had refused to grant him immunity last December, explaining that the previous occupants of the White House had not done so.The divine right of kings To evade the criminal responsibilities applicable to their citizens.

Questions from the three appeals judges revealed deep doubts about the validity of the former president's arguments. Judge Pan offered a hypothetical position, asking whether or not a president could be impeached if he ordered Navy SEALs to assassinate a political rival. Trump's lawyer He said that even then he could not be impeached unless he was impeached and convicted by the Senate. Trump was acquitted by the Senate in the impeachment cases, and the lawyer thus challenged the legality of the criminal proceedings. Trump said that allowing the case of Jack Smith – a special prosecutor for the Department of Justice – to proceed would be “opening a Pandora's box, something the nation will never recover from,” because it would lead to… To the circle of revenge Where every president can judge his predecessor.

This ruling represents great importance for American jurisprudence, because it addressed a question on which the Court of Appeals had never previously expressed its opinion: Can a former president avoid prosecution for something he committed while in office? Trump is the first US president to be impeached. However, Michelle Childs, one of the three justices, noted that after his resignation, President Richard Nixon was granted a pardon for any criminal activity he had “committed or may have committed”: an admission that, in her view, could have been indictable. . The question now is whether the trial, which was scheduled to begin on March 4 and has been postponed until the immunity issue is resolved… It could actually happen before the November vote. Obtaining immunity is just one of Trump's goals. The other is to slow down all processes sufficiently. If he wins the election and returns to the White House, he will be able to try to have the charges against him dropped or receive a pardon.